Archive for May, 2009

Hopefully that interview tied you over why I was sick but I’m up and running now 😀 I’ll start updating everything again (No I haven’t forgotten highscores) And I’m hoping nitrome’ll have a new game next week!

Mat generously let me interview him today and answered a lot of questions you may not have thought of!

—

Today I’ll be interviewing Mat, the co-founder and Managing Director of Nitrome! Well first off can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Im one of the two Directors of Nitrome Limited. Nitrome started with just myself and Heather with me producing the artwork and Heather doing the programming. We have grown in size since then which has meant I now spend much more of my time organising what other people are working on but I do still find some time to get involved on the art side of things 🙂

How did you meet Heather?

For those who don’t know Heather is the other co-founder and Director of Nitrome. We have known each other a long time now, way before we started Nitrome together…..we met years ago at a party.

The success of Nitrome must have had some sort of impact on your life? Can you tell anything different?

I guess I get invited to more games events than I used to and I certainly get a lot more email. I wouldn’t say my lifestyle has particularly changed though…..I think people probably think we are more successful than we are!

Were you originally going for a gaming career? At that, an online gaming career?

I did Graphic Design in University and went into a career initially making websites, then flash micro sites, then adver games and then Nitrome….. I think I always knew I wanted to make games but never knew how 🙂 There were no flash games when I went to University so it is something that I have got into as Flash allowed me to!

What has been your favourite game that you’ve made? Or are there none you don’t love?

Well I don’t like to pick favourites and I do love all of them but I think possibly Twang would be the one I am most pleased with. I only did about half the art in that one though so possibly Skywire 1 & 2 would be the ones I worked fully on that I am most pleased with.

Would you suggest this career to other people? Friends or family?

One of my brothers Jon works for me at Nitrome so I guess I would have to say that I have suggested it to him but no other members of my family were interested 🙂 It really depends on the sort of person you are…..if you love games so much that you can’t see yourself doing anything else and are willing to put a LOT of work into it then it is the job for you. It is a lot of work though and you really do have to be motivated so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who only has a passing interest.

Did Simon disappear? He hasn’t been in any games recently other than Final Ninja Zero and Droplets.

Droplets is our most recent game so I think it’s fair to say he is still here! I think what most people don’t realise is that we have multiple games being made at the same time and they don’t always come out as soon as they are finished. Sometimes it can take months before a game is finally released so they can come out in orders that makes it look like some people are doing more than others at a particular time!

Can you give us a little detail on your office? What it is, how big it is, ect.

It is bigger than the one we used to be in (that was tiny!) but it is not that flash to be honest…….it’s just 4 walls and some desks…….sorry folks no video walls, personal arcades or play areas despite what we would have if we did have the money!

Is it possible for Nitrome to end in the next few years? Or do you hope to have it going as long as you can let it?

Anything is possible but we don’t intend to end it any time soon. I would like to think that we continue to grow and try new things!

Have you ever been stopped on the street by a stranger and have them say, “Hey I know you… Your mat from Nitrome!”?

There is no reason for people to know what I look like so I think that’s unlikely to happen. I’m glad about that…..I don’t think I would know how to react 🙂

Finally would you like to add anything?

I’d like to thank everyone who is reading this for being our fans! We try to make the best games we can and to have people who like our work enough to set up their own fan site about us blows me away!

I can’t believe it but you took my challenge of 100 views in one day and demolished it! Not only should anyone who viewed today be proud but I am incredibly at hitting a record of 115 views today! Tomorrow I’ll start posting all the highscores editing out the hacked ones as promised! Anyone who helped make this fantastic feat please post a comment below! (By the way, at the end the bar goes way down, thats tomorrows stats!)

A new game came out of no where today! The goal of the game is to drop the bunnies onto the different platforms… Easy enough? No. Your then introduced to tubes, Enemies, and flying a bit too fast!

The game may lack graphics… but it completely redeems itself in fun factor! This game, unlike Powerup, Rustyard, and Icebreaker Red Clan, is not very frustrating or too hard. Its very good game for beginers and extra fun for advance players!

I highly recommend this game and trust me, its levels are thirty… so it can’t be that hard to beat… right?

With two player action, Its Droplets!

Have fun!

The Official word from Mat

This game is all about rabbit droppings…. ahem! …I mean rabbit dropping!

Hurl the lanky-eared bunny droplets to their likely doom in the hope of scoring enough points to get to the next level! Click to raise and lower their ears to adjust the speed of their descent.

Please note that no real bunnies were harmed in the making of this game… just pixel ones…. (not really).

Many of you know (or don’t) that Nitrome makes four games at a time… that means that when the newest game comes out 3 more are being made.

So what do we do when the games are being made? Predict what they are!

So here you go… the evidence, the game, and the concept against!
(The picture under is not real. It was an edit done by me. Feel free to use)

Dirk Valentine and the Martian Underworld
Evidence;Said at the end of Dirk ValentineMentioned in Final Ninja ZeroNitrome has game waiting to be released by the sponsor. Possibly the sequel?
Against?
No previews

Zombie game
Evidence;Zombies from no other game were in the new Party backround
Against
Nothing

Carnivorous Plant game (Possible sequel to Feed me)
Evidence;Plant featured in party backround no body has seen

Finally after three weeks of waiting a new game (minigame) popped up called cosmic cannon! It turns out a game was ready to be launched but the sponsors are holding it back like in Toxic Two.

Anyway the new game is a sequel to cheese dreams! So you have to blast balls out of a cannon an hit previous ones to score points and keep ’em up! How fun!!!

I really enjoyed this one and I’m going for a highscore of 100! (Look out for the balls from previous games!!!)

Official word from Mat at NitromeA few of you might have noticed we haven’t had a game up for a little longer than usual…….thanks for all the emails 🙂 Although we actually had a game ready that was intended to be launched we agreed with the games sponsor that it would be better positioned for a particular event later in the year so it has been held back. The eagle-eyed amongst you may even be able to take a guess as to some of the games contents and the event from the latest skin!

Fear not however as we have some great new games that should be ready for release really soon now so your not going to waiting long for your next hot games fix. To tide you over until then we felt it was about time we launched a new minigame to test your high score skills 🙂 This one has been sitting around gathering dust at Nitrome towers for a while now so it is great to finally find a good time to release it. Click here to play Cosmic Cannon.

The aim of the game is to keep a number ball in the air for as many bounces as possible by shooting new balls into it. Watch out for balls featuring cameos from some of our other games…..they may look nice but they will only get in your way and they don’t count towards your score so try to get rid of them quickly! Don’t worry if you drop one you can just keep restarting until you think you have a score worth submitting……Good Luck!